Under the Full Moon
by dillon224dewey
Summary: Remus and Sirius are in love, their romance bloomed at the end of fifth year and by the end of sixth year, Remus is positive he wants to spend the rest of his life with Sirius. Sirius feels the same way, but when Remus starts talking about telling the rest of Marauders, Sirius disagrees. Will that be the end of their relationship or will it bring them even closer? *Not Canon*
1. Chapter One: The Attack

Remus never imagined himself in this position. He sat quietly on the couch, curled up with a book. His eyes were flickering between James and Sirius. Peter had retired early, yet the tension in the room was high. Full moon was two weeks ago and Remus had just gotten out of the hospital wing. James hadn't shown up at the Shrieking Shack which left Sirius with the responsibility of watching Remus, pretty much alone. Peter couldn't do much as his Animagus was a rat, too small to do anything.

Apparently, Remus had started to get out of control and Sirius couldn't hold him alone. He had to get Peter and himself out of there singlehandedly. Remus has a new scar across his cheek to show the struggle of what happened after they left. Sirius hadn't exactly forgiven James yet. James didn't quite comprehend _why_ Sirius was still so upset. He didn't know the depths of the relationship between Sirius and Remus.

"I think I'll go to bed…" Remus marked the page in his book and walked up the stone stairs to his dormitory. Peter's slow breaths indicated that he had, in fact, fallen asleep. Remus changed and settled into his four poster bed. He closed the drapes around the bed, but even those didn't drown out the yelling for downstairs.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE FOR HIM, PRONGS!"

"I WAS WITH EVANS, I TOLD YOU I WOULD BE WITH EVANS!"

"YOU _NEVER_ SHOULD HAVE NOT BEEN THERE BECAUSE OF LILY!"

"YOU KNOW I WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE IF I COULD HAVE BEEN THERE!"

Sirius had lowered his voice and replied with something Remus couldn't decipher.

"What do you mean?!"

"You know what I mean!" Sirius' voice was steadily growing louder again and Remus wanted nothing more than to not hear this argument. He hated when his friends fought, and even more when it was about him. Remus squeezed his eyes tight and covered his head with his pillow. He heard a faint stomping, then the dormitory door open and slam shut. Someone crawled into the bed next to his which indicated that Sirius was indeed the one who had come to bed.

"Did you tell James?" Remus whispered and he heard a slight thud.

"Ouch! Merlin, Moony. You scared me! Uh, no. I didn't tell him anything. You didn't hear us, did you?"

"Hard not to," a voice across the room sounded. Apparently James and Sirius had woken Peter. "Tell James what? About what happened that night?"

"Yeah…" Remus trailed off, not knowing where to take the lie. "Good night, Wormtail. Night, Padfoot."

"Good night, Moony," they said together.

* * *

Remus awoke the next morning to find a bright light in his eyes. The sun had risen and it seemed to be right outside the dormitory's window. Remus squinted against the light and wrenched upon the curtains around his four-poster bed. Letting the sun flood his entire bed, this way was much easier than the one streak of light directly in his eyes.

"Good morning, sleepy head." A deep voice said from behind him. Remus turned over and saw Sirius sitting on his bed wearing nothing but his pajama bottoms. Remus bit his lip and smiled at the boy. "You've missed breakfast, but Prongs and Wormtail didn't want to wake you up, so I got some food and brought it up here to you.

"Where are the others?" Remus asked now curious of the quiet in the dormitory.

"With Evans and one of her friends. You know she actually will look at James without insulting him now?" Remus feigned a gasp of surprise and sat up in his bed.

Sirius leapt up from his bed and climbed in next to Remus. Remus laid his head on the mutt's shoulder and took a pastry from his hand.

"That was mine!" Remus chuckled and shoved the entire thing into his mouth.

"Bot ebbymowe," the werewolf tried and failed to say without dropping crumbs out of his mouth. Sirius laughed and used his thumb to wipe Remus's bottom lip. Sirius' hand rested under Remus's chin until he was done chewing. Then Padfoot pulled the werewolf's face closer to his and laid a quick, simple, yet passionate kiss on his lips.

Remus pouted for more, but Sirius shook his head. "You've got to get up! You're going to miss your study group if you don't get dressed immediately!" Remus sighed and got out of bed. Slowly undressing, much to Sirius' pleasure, he found his school robes and put them on. "Get a move on, then."

Remus took Sirius' hand and pulled him out of the dormitory with him. "Where are we going?" a shocked Padfoot asked.

"You're walking me to the library."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because that is what gentleman do."

As they reached the bottom of the staircase, Remus let go of Sirius' hand and welcomed a very full common room. It seemed everyone was still celebrating Gryffindor's win against Hufflepuff in the Quidditch tournament the night before. It was surprising James wasn't in there, as he scored sixty of the two hundred thirty points. One hundred fifty of those points were from Gryffindor getting the snitch first.

Sirius led Remus out of the common room, the Marauder's Map stuck firmly in the back pocket of his blue jeans, which Remus had bought him this summer, because he always wore Wizard Robes.

"Maybe you should let James and Peter use the Map when they're exploring and trying to impress girls."

"Yes, and when they see us in the dormitory on top of each other, that should go well, shouldn't it?" Sirius snapped quickly. Remus recoiled and nodded faintly.

"C'mere." Sirius pulled the other boy into a tight hug. "I'm sorry I snapped, I'm just still angry about Prongs ditching us on full moon, alright?"

Remus gave a small smile and nodded. Padfoot nodded and dragged him down the moving stone staircases. They finally made it to the third floor, just as Remus saw some of his first years walk into the large room. Sirius gave his hand a small squeeze, a sign of affection no one else would notice, and walked off, his hand clutching his wand as Severus Snape passed close by him.

But it was Remus that Snape approached, luckily enough, Sirius did not look back and did not see the Slytherin chest to chest with Remus, he didn't want to cause a scene. "Can I help you?" said Remus loudly.

"What happened to your face?" Snape growled, his voice dangerously quiet.

"That is quite none of your business, Severus." Remus avoided the name _Snivellus_ at all costs.

"Alright, poof, I'll give you one last chance at answering me." Remus's face grew red, he had come out in third year, though wished he hadn't because now Severus Snape felt he had the upper hand on Remus instead of being afraid of him because of who his friends were.

"Just go back to the dungeons, Snape." Remus turned his back on the other boy and walked towards the library entrance.

Within an instant after hearing " _Petrificus Totalus_ " his entire body failed him. His legs sprung together, his arms were clamped to his sides, he could not speak, and he stared up at the Slytherin boy who had said the words, now staring down at him, in horror. He didn't know how to get away. His wand, now out of reach, was not useful enough. He just laid there, until he finally heard a familiar voice. Snape, still standing over him, turned, eyes wide, to be met by James Potter.

"What's going on here?" James yelled, wand now raised, pointed at Snape's chest. Snape couldn't, or wouldn't, speak. "Snivellus! Can you hear? I asked you a question, answer me." With a flick of his wand, Snape was hanging upside down in the air.

"Finite!" Peter had swung his wand around and Remus was free to move again. Peter helped him off the ground and he walked towards James.

"Put him down, Prongs. He meant no harm." Remus could see Lily Evans, the woman of James' dreams, staring in horror at the scene. James nodded and let the boy hit the ground in a heap. "I think he pronounced it wrong." Remus defended and Snape scurried off with a group of Slytherins from their year that Remus hadn't noticed before. James looked at Remus disapprovingly. "What?"

"The Full Body-Bind Curse is hard to mispronounce, Moony." Remus looked at his feet, knowing he was caught. "Why didn't you just let me take him? If I wasn't quicker, he would've done the same to me."

"I have a study group waiting for me, I've got to go." Remus scampered into the library and waved at Madam Pince who waved back, preparing for the minor noise in her library. He noticed his first years sitting at table outside of the Restricted section, looking at it longingly. "Trust me, you don't want to go in there." The seven of them jumped, not noticing him coming. He set his bag down beside him and sat in the last chair at the table. "So, where shall we start?"

* * *

"REMUS! REMUS! ARE YOU OKAY?!" Remus had been telling the first years about the different types of Cauldrons when Sirius came tearing into the library to the dismay of Madam Pince. "The fucker walked right past me and I didn't even turn back. Merlin, I am so sorry. What happened? Are you okay?"

Madam Pince had finally had enough and kicked all nine of them out of the library. "Sorry, we'll reschedule, find me tomorrow during breakfast," Remus whispered to the first years and Sirius looked him up and down nervously.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked again.

"I'm _fine_ , Padfoot. Would you stop fussing over me? I can take care of myself." Sirius raised a curious eyebrow.

"Really? That's not what Prongs said, at all, actually. 'Said you'd have been a goner if Lily hadn't wanted to find her way into the kitchens. He said that Peter knew the counter-spell and was able to do it, which is why you're walking right now." Remus glowered.

"Shut up. He got me from behind, I didn't think he'd actually do anything if I walked away, being the bigger man and all." Remus kicked nonchalantly at the floor, "it was just a little curse, nothing to worry about."

"Oh yeah? And what if next time this 'little curse' is the Cruciatus Curse, huh? Or the Killing Curse? What then? Is that nothing to worry about? He _cursed_ you, Moony. You shouldn't have stopped James."

Remus sighed and nodded. "I get it" was all he could manage as a lump formed in his throat. He hadn't really thought all that much about it. He didn't think anyone would be so worried.

"I told McGonagall and she's going to tell Dumbledore."

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

"I had to, Remus, what did you want me to do? Let him curse you every time you don't do as he asks?"

"How about letting me handle myself?" Remus tore himself out of Sirius's grasp and ran down the seventh floor corridor. He didn't want to go back to the common room. He was too angry. But after a short while, he saw a large door that he had never seen before. He went inside and found exactly what he needed. A good book to read and a comfy armchair.

* * *

 **A/n: This is the Marauders story I was talking about. I hope you all like it. LDD will be updated soon. I'm working on a couple of fan fictions. They will all updated regularly if things go as planned. Don't worry about it! :) I just have a lot of ideas and I really want to show you guys all ends of the spectrum. So we have LDD, RxS(that's what I call this one) and then I have another story that is still a work in progress. I'm not revealing the storyline until I'm happy with it! Hope you enjoy this and see you soon!**


	2. Chapter Two: The Dream

When Remus finally went back to the common room, Sirius was pacing the wall, apparently waiting for him.

"Padfoot, he's here!" James called from a table in front of the fireplace.

Sirius spun on the spot and faced Remus squarely. Remus wondered if he was going to pick a fight in front of the others, worried that something would slip out. Remus tried to slip past Sirius to go up to the dormitory, but Sirius pushed him back. James and Peter were watching closely.

"What's going on between you two?" Peter asked timidly.

"Nothing!" Both boys replied a bit too quickly.

"Peter's right. You guys have been acting weird for _weeks._ What's wrong?"

Sirius took a step back in shock. Remus took this opportunity to slip past him and go upstairs. Sirius grabbed his robes and pulled him back down. "Not so fast, Moony. You know you can't just run off and not come back for hours!" Remus growled under his breath.

"Stop treating me like a child! I am fully capable of handling my own."

"Really? Because I watched you do this," Sirius ran a finger over Remus's new scar on his cheek. "And you couldn't exactly handle your own then."

"Now, Padfoot," James stood and walked to Sirius. "Let's not bring up Remus's problem, that's not him. You know that. He made one mistake today."

"A mistake that could have cost him everything."

"I turned my back for a few seconds! If he wanted to duel, I could have taken him. If someone got you from behind, you would have been stuck like I was. So why is it such a bad thing that I got in a sticky situation when it could have just as easily been you?"

"Because I would have never turned my back on an enemy!"

"Oh, so now it's because you're smarter than me, huh? Good night."

"Moony! He shouldn't have said that. We're all just worried about you. Okay? You've never been attacked like that before. The names and jeers, we could ignore. This? We can't just trust you to be on your own anymore." James looked at Remus sincerely. "We, all of us, want to protect you with all our power."

"We don't see anything with the way you are, Moony, but the people that do will do anything to get to you. They want to run you out of Hogwarts, forever."

"Are you referring to the fact that I'm a werewolf or that I'm gay?"

"Keep your voice down!" hissed Sirius.

"Oh, alright. We're not going to be overheard in here anyway. It's past midnight, no one in their right mind is up at this hour."

"Moony, let's all just go to bed. Nothing is wrong with being angry, but I think after you get some sleep, you could see this in a different light."

James ushered all of them upstairs. After getting changed, they all crawled into their separate beds and fell asleep.

 _"Remus... Remus, honey... You're okay. Just stay awake."_

 _"Hope, get away from him! He could be dangerous!"_

 _"Oh, don't be stupid Lyall, he's our son!"_

 _"Yes, and he's also a werewolf. Get away from him. Now!"_

 _"I refuse to leave my son, Lyall. We need to take him to that wizard hospital you always talk about!"_

 _"Mummy…" Remus could barely speak, but he was scared and needed his mother to hold his hand._

 _Hope grabbed hold of her young son's hand and scooped him into her arms. "If you don't kill that man, I will."_

 _Remus heard a thick laugh from far away. He recognized it as his father's. "Good luck with that, my dear."_

 _"Lyall! Help me get him in the car, we'll go to this wizarding hospital and I don't care if we need go broke. We will help our boy."_

 _A door opened and Remus felt very cold. All he had on were his pajamas. He was shivering violently, but he also had a piercing pain in his arm. He just wanted to sleep, maybe if he just…_

 _"Remus! You wake up right now!"_

 _"But Mummy... Mummy..."_

 _"Remus. Remus! REMUS. REMUS! WAKE UP!"_

Remus jumped up, causing himself to fall out of his bed. Sirius was standing over him with a worried look on his face. Remus could see two figures looking at him from his bed. "Are you okay?" the three of them asked at the same time.

"Fine, why?"

You – er… You were moaning in your sleep. It woke us up."

"Oh, I... Nothing's wrong."

"Alright," said James and Peter and they both went back to their beds. Sirius stayed standing over him.

"Let's go get some hot chocolate. The house elves should be up at this hour."

Remus reluctantly agreed and pull a robe over his pajamas as Sirius "borrowed" the Invisibility Cloak from James' trunk. When they got to the common room, Sirius pulled the Marauder's Map out and whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." They pulled the Invisibility Cloak over themselves and made their way to the basement.

After tickling the pear in the portrait, the painting sprung open. Sirius led Remus inside and hundreds of house elves were busily working. They all turned at the sound of the door opening.

"Can I get some hot chocolate?" Sirius said loudly.

"Please," Remus added.

A dozen or so house elves started scattering around. Soon enough, Sirius and Remus were served with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. Sirius and Remus sat at the duplicate table of the Great Hall's and chatted for a bit. When the house elves started to work restlessly, the boys knew that it was almost time for breakfast. They finished their hot chocolate and headed out of the kitchens. Remus turned back and thanked the elves. His appreciation fell on deaf ears as the elves frantically fixed up the breakfast meal.

* * *

Sirius and Remus joined their friends at the Gryffindor table. A pretty girl with brown hair down to her waist sat on the other side of Sirius.

"H-hi Sirius."

"Er, hi," Sirius replied, smiling.

"I'm in your Herbology class. I'm Meghan, the Ravenclaw that sits behind you."

"Oh! Yes, hi." Sirius brushed his hair behind his ear and Remus stared at the girl longingly. He felt a pang of jealousy, but forced it away as he knew Sirius would never look into anyone's eyes the way he looked into Remus'.

"I was, er – I was wondering if you wanted to… Go to Hogsmeade together. The Hogsmeade trip is next weekend. And, er – I was hoping we could go to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop with me."

"With you?"

Meghan nodded her head excitedly and Remus felt his heart plummet into his stomach. He knew Sirius would not be able to turn her down without suspicion from James and Peter. This girl was beautiful, but Remus wasn't really excited for Sirius to go on dates that weren't with him. He knew Sirius wouldn't cheat, but he also knew that Sirius wasn't ready to come out with their relationship.

"Sorry, er – Meghan, is it? I've already made plans for the Hogsmeade trip. I'll see you around, though, alright?" Meghan bowed her head and nodded shyly before she stood and walked back to her own house's table. James and Peter were looking at Sirius as if he had grown a second head.

"Are you completely out of it? Did you _see_ that girl? She wanted to go to _Madam Puddifoot's_ with you! You probably would have snogged her all day!"

Sirius merely rolled his eyes. "Perhaps, but I have plans to snog someone else all day." Under the table, he squeezed Remus thigh reassuringly.

"Oh? You do now?"

"Yes, Moony and I have a double date that day."

"Yeah? And who are you going with?"

"Oh, er – Remus is going with Evans. And I… I am going with... Er – Kelly."

" _Kelly._ As in Slytherin, Kelly whom you can't stand. Whom trips over her feet every time you enter a room? _That Kelly?_ "

"Precisely! That one."

"Mhmm..." James nodded skeptically, but luckily enough Lily Evans, a perky red head with whom James had always been obsessed with, came to sit next to Remus.

"Ready for our date on Saturday?" Sirius pushed and winked secretly at Lily across Remus. Lily hesitated before nodding and Remus smiled genuinely.

Lily Evans was the only one in their year, only one in the school that knew about Sirius and Remus being together. The only other person who knew was Remus' mother, who had made him tell her when she accidentally intercepted some of his mail.

Lily smiled at the couple and turned back to the table. "Potter."

"Evans."

James face had gone red and so had Lily's. They both chuckled a bit and went back to eating.

"Evans, why were you so late to breakfast?" said Sirius as he chowed down on a bit of a pastry.

"Oh, I was doing a bit of homework that I fell asleep doing last night. I forgot about prefect duties and ended up getting back later than usual because Peeves was causing trouble with Moaning Myrtle." Lily went on about how she hadn't finished her Advanced Potions essay before falling asleep and she knew Slughorn would be disappointed in her if she hadn't had it done in time for class, so she skipped the first half of breakfast. And Remus was sure she had said more, but he was focusing on Sirius's hand slowly traveling further up his thigh.


	3. Chapter Three: The Hogsmeade Weekend

Although Remus felt sure that he looked like a fool, he got kind of dressed up for the date. He had on black trousers, which James had bought him before school started, and a shabby red jumper that his mother had sent him for this date. Sirius had woken early, in order to cause trouble before he spent the day in Hogsmeade, so Remus had no idea what he was wearing. Remus had wanted to base his outfit off of Sirius's but that was not an option any longer. Remus gave himself one last look in the mirror, sighed and walked out of the dormitory. Unfortunately, his best friends were in the common room, waiting.

"Why are you so dressed up? Trying to impress Evans, are you?"

"She's not my type," Remus joked to the stag.

"How can Lily not be your type?" James retorted.

"Witches aren't exactly my type, if you recall. I'm doing this for Sirius. And if I see you two peeking through windows to spy on us, and you ruin the date for Sirius, I will hex you both into slugs." Remus knew he wouldn't do anything but hide forever if his and Sirius's relationship was found out.

"Moony!" said James exasperated. "I am appalled you would think that Wormtail and I would spy on your double date."

"I didn't think," Remus paused to stand up, "I knew." Remus gave a little wave to both of the boys and made his way to and through the portrait hole. Remus had a feeling Sirius would have exploded if he knew that Remus was traveling the castle alone. But the Map was still a work in progress and he was _positive_ that there were more secrets to this castle. He had a bit of time before the Hogsmeade trip-goers would need to be lined up in the Entrance to be checked off for permission.

Remus's chance to explore the castle were interrupted as he reached the third floor of the castle. A red-head girl had come running at him at full speed. "Lily," Remus smiled at the shorter Gryffindor. His smile faded quickly when the panic in her eyes settled in his mind.

"Remus! It's Peter!"

"What d'you mean? I just saw him."

"Hurry, please!"

Remus followed Lily at a sprint up the moving staircases to the seventh floor. Remus saw a crowd right outside the Gryffindor tower corridor. "What's happened?" Remus's eyes widened as Lily looked back at him. He pushed his way through the crowd where he was met with two of his best friends holding the third in their laps. "What's happened?" Remus repeated. "Someone tell me what's happened!"

"He was attacked," James answered.

"By Slytherins, no doubt," added Sirius. "Just like they got you."

"You think Snape did this?"

"No doubt," Sirius repeated in a growl.

Remus finally took time to look at the beady-eyed boy in front of him. He kneeled beside his best friend and took his hand in his. Peter had a large wound by his rib cage, his shirt was ripped and there was blood staining it. Peter was dressed for the Hogsmeade in Muggle clothes. Remus didn't know what it was, but that made him angrier that someone had attacked him. They probably called him something like _mudblood_ or _blood traitor_. This made Remus's blood boil worse than it ever had, that he could remember.

"We're going to find who did this to you, Peter. I promise you. We'll get them back for it."

"This is all my fault," For the first time, Remus noticed James was sobbing over his best mate.

"How is it _your_ fault, Prongs?" hissed Sirius. "It's those blood supremacists that think they're so much better. They haven't attacked us, because they hope we'll join them, you know."

"I sent him out to spy on Remus when I was sure he'd gone. I didn't know there was someone waiting outside, I didn't check the Map first."

"I had the Map," said Sirius guiltily.

"Can we play the blame game later? Has anyone notified Dumbledore and McGonagall about the attack yet?"

"I'm on my way right now!" shouted Lily Evans from behind Remus. Remus heard her footsteps hit the stone floor hard as she ran through the corridors until they died in the distance.

"Let's get him to Madam Pomfrey," Remus whispered. He looked into Peter's blue eyes. "You think you can make it?"

Peter nodded cautiously and Remus stood and motioned for the others to do so. Remus and Sirius were on either side of Peter as they hoisted his arms over their shoulders and carried his weight. James followed them, holding back sobs and hiccups on the way. Peter hadn't spoken a word and Remus worried that his attacker had performed a Silencing Charm on him.

The four of them had finally reached the hospital wing and Remus called out for Madam Pomfrey. She ran out and helped Sirius and Remus get Peter to the closest bed available.

"What happened to you, Mr. Pettigrew?"

Peter looked at James, expecting him to answer, when James continued to hiccup into his hands. Peter croaked, "Snivellus."

"WHAT?!" Sirius had shot out of the chair he had settled into. "No. I'll kill him. I'll _kill_ him. This is the second time he's hurt one of ours. No." Sirius had run out of the hospital wing before anyone could stop him. Remus frantically looked back and forth from the door of the hospital wing to his injured mate.

"Go," squeaked Peter. Remus nodded and took off in the same direction as Sirius. He saw him, barely, turning a corner ahead. He followed him, knowing where he was going. Sure enough, Remus found himself standing in front of the Dungeons.

"Sirius! C'mon, love! Sirius!" Remus called out for his boyfriend to no avail. "Padfoot, please."

"Moony, go. I can't do this if you're watching. Snivellus has seen his last day."

"You don't want to do this, love." Remus walked towards his lover, whom had his wand raised high. "You'll spend the rest of your days in Azkaban if you do this, don't do this."

Sirius glanced at the taller boy. His eyes darted back to the Slytherins' common room entrance.

"Doing this will make your family proud, darling. That's not what you want."

"SHUT UP! Not about my family!"

"Sirius, listen to me! Lower your wand!"

"Yes, Mr. Black. Lowering your wand would be a smart decision. You might listen to your friend." Both Remus and Sirius turned at the sound of the calm voice.

"Professor Slughorn!" Remus stepped in front of Sirius instinctively.

"Mr. Lupin, I must say I'm a bit disappointed about you being here. Being the Gryffindor prefect and all."

"I was just protecting your students along with mine, Professor."

"Your supremacists attacked my best mates, they'll suffer for it. They'll–"

"Stand down, Padfoot."

"Yes, _Padfoot_ , stand down." Remus didn't like the way his boyfriend's nickname sounded on the Potions professor's tongue.

"Oi, dearest brother, how delightful to see you here, wand raised? Is something wrong? A bit of a boo-boo on your friend?"

This was getting a bit much for Remus, who had expected to come talk his boyfriend down, and make his way back to the hospital wing to look after Peter. Sirius lowered his wand as his brother approached them.

"Reg, don't make me do this. _Please_ don't make me raise my wand to you."

"Oh? You're afraid, blood-traitor? Afraid of what a _real_ wizard could do?"

Slughorn had made his way into the common room or to his office at some point as he was no longer in earshot.

"I'm not afraid of you, Reg. But you _are_ my brother. Step back. STEP BACK!" Regulus had kept walking towards the pair until he got close enough he had shoved Remus out of the way and been nose to nose with his brother. Black on Black. Both merciless, Sirius's friends were on the line. Regulus's reputation was on the line. Both would go out kicking and screaming or dead. Neither would back down, ever. Remus had pulled his wand before he realized what he was doing.

"FLIPENDO!" Remus yelled, still pointing his wand at Regulus Black, somehow his hands stayed steady and Regulus Black was knocked away from the boys. Sirius and Remus scrambled up the stairs into the very full Entrance Hall.

"Thank you," Sirius whispered, patting Remus's hand tenderly. James was waving at them from the back of the line. The couple made their way towards him.

"He's going to be okay, Dumbledore said to give him time to rest and Peter wants me to get him some Chocolate Frogs, are you lot still going on your date?"

Sirius and Remus exchanged looks. "No," they said together. The fiery red-head, Lily Evans, had found the three boys in the Entrance Hall shortly after as they neared the front of the line where Filch was accepting permission slips from third years and checking off names of older students.

"James Potter," the shaggy-haired boy said with a yawn.

"Yes, yes, Potter…" grumbled Filch as he shooed the boy on.

"Sirius Black."

"Mhmm," Filch growled under his breath and pushed Sirius out of line.

"Remus Lupin." Remus offered a kind smile and Filch nodded his head.

"Go on, Mr. Lupin."

"Lily Evans, sir."

"Yes, Lily, I know you, of course I know you," the squib beamed and crossed off another name as Lily walked out of line and put her arm through Remus's. "Well, shall we get to our date then?" James looked at Lily, mesmerized.

"No date today, Evans, maybe some other time." Sirius winked at her dramatically and Remus rolled his eyes.

"Earth to Prongs," Remus said, waving his head in the stag's face. Lily had skipped off to join her friends.

The three mates walked to the small wizarding village together, falling into line as Sirius and Remus had filled in James about what happened in the Dungeons.

"What pricks," mumbled James, but Sirius stayed silent. He hadn't said much since, actually. Facing his brother was always very hard for the boy, though. Remus decided to give him his space. The werewolf followed behind the dark-haired boys as they reached Honeydukes.

"Chocolate frogs, anyone?" James said, cheerfully.

Sirius and Remus exchanged looks quickly. They nodded together. After they all had their arms full of chocolate frogs, they went to the counter to pay. They chipped in an equal amount of money, Sirius, the richest of the trio, offering to cover the extra costs.

Sirius had been struggling with his family for years. He had moved into James's house that summer, for his mum had officially kicked him out of number 12, Grimmauld Place. Thankfully, though, his family decided it would be too much of a hassle and too public for their liking to cut him off from his Gringotts vault. Remus smiled at Sirius shyly and the dark-haired boy winked at him.

James looked between the two, neither realizing he saw this interaction. He shrugged his shoulders ever so lightly and followed his best mates out of the candy shop and into Three Broomsticks.

"Who needs a drink?!" Remus yelled excitedly, slapping both his friends on the back. James and Sirius both nodded and Remus walked casually up to the bar. James and Sirius found a place to sit in the back of the pub. James slid himself into the booth and looked at Sirius.

"What was all that about at Honeydukes?"

"I can't say I know what you're talking about, Prongs?" Sirius had a seriousness to his voice.

"You and Remus."

"Remus and I… _What?_ " James did not notice the hostility in his friend's voice and shrugged.

"Nothing, I suppose. You probably always do it, I just noticed because I'm on edge with all that happening to Pete and all."

Sirius nodded and stared at his hands in his lap. "Prongs?"

"Yeah Padfoot?"

"DRINKS!" Remus shouted happily, interrupting–and breaking–the tension at the booth James and Sirius had settled into. The two mates grabbed a mug from Remus, they sloppily hit their butterbeers against each other and mumbled "Cheers."

"Why are you all so gloomy?" Remus said, feigning a pout. "Pete will be fine," his voice had gone lower, apparently finally remembering that the group was missing a member for the first Hogsmeade trip of the year.

"Wormtail will be fine, Prongs." Sirius used Peter's nickname to channel the braveness inside James that he knew was there. He knew the Animagi's nicknames would help James see the bright side. And it did, because the rest of the Hogsmeade trip, the trio sat drinking, talking about their plans for the future. All silently hoping that they would return to the castle to be reunited with their missing Marauder and not with his cold body.


	4. Chapter Four: The Prank

This was the first time Remus had spent more than a week in the hospital wing and he wasn't the one in the bed. He had spent almost all of his free periods and time out of class with Peter. He didn't like being on the other side of it, and he felt like he had finally understood why his friends fussed over him so much. He constantly wanted to bring Peter something to eat, though Madam Pomfrey prompted not to give him too much of any one food. Though Remus believed that Peter had eaten all of his share of the chocolate frogs and not actually given "most of them to James to hide in the 'secret stash'," as Peter had told Madam Pomfrey earlier that week.

Remus hated the feeling of not being able to protect Peter more successfully, and he knew the other Marauders were feeling the same way. On Tuesday, Remus made his way to the Hospital Wing after Defence Against the Dark Arts. Remus had some chocolate frogs with him, part of his share, but he knew it would help Peter cheer up a bit, he hated being locked in the wing without anyone to talk to.

"Hey, Pete. How are you?" Remus said when he reached Peter's bed, realizing he was awake.

"Tired and sore," Peter whispered. He had been hoarse since the day it happened. James and Remus still weren't able to figure out what exactly happened.

Sirius had given up a few days before, even though he kept insisting Peter was released. Madam Pomfrey seemed to have no leeway on this subject. "Not until Friday," she had repeated every time the boys brought up the subject.

"Only a few more days before you can come back to the dorm." Peter nodded, though he looked past Remus and fear filled his eyes.

A very angry Black had just walked into the room. Madam Pomfrey was in her office and hadn't noticed a thing even when Regulus screamed, "YOU!" at Peter.

"Me? I haven't done anything!" Peter squeaked nervously. Remus looked between the two. _What is going on here?_

" _You_ sent my brother to the Dungeons! _You_ could have gotten him killed! If anyone besides me had come down those stairs... _Anyone else._ I would have had your head." Regulus had not noticed Remus until now. "And _you._ " He took a step, so he was dangerously close to Remus, "If you ever jinx me like that again, I'll have your head. I'll hang it in my house beside the House-Elves." Turning to Peter for a split second, Regulus shouted, "Yours too!" Then turned to stomp out of the Hospital Wing and slam the doors shut behind him.

Peter had his blanket pulled up to his chin, trying to escape the Black brother. Remus patted his hand and they promised they would not utter a word to anyone else about the incident until they knew what was behind Regulus's attitude. When had he ever been concerned about his brother's safety before? There was nothing Regulus could have known that Remus did not already know about Sirius. _Was there?_

About an hour later, when Remus's free period had been almost over, James and Sirius came bursting into the Hospital Wing.

"MOONY!"

"Prongs," Remus replied calmly.

"WORMTAIL!"

"Padfoot," croaked Peter.

"We've had the greatest idea."

"I'm sure you have," Remus was a bit less enthusiastic now as James and Sirius pulled up a couple seats and started to explain their latest scheme.

* * *

Remus followed his friends through the corridors on the day of Sirius and James's new prank idea. Peter had been finally let out of the Hospital Wing, three days earlier. Remus thought Peter should've stayed in bed like he did when he got out of the Hospital Wing, but Peter was having none of it. Remus always backed his friends on what they wanted to do, so he followed his mates to the Dungeons and they waited under James's invisibility cloak for a very long time. Regulus Black, Severus Snape, Evan Rosier, and Rodolphus Lestrange finally exited the common room.

"–traitors think they can get away with anything. Did they think sending your brother down here would hold us off? We aren't exactly scared, now, are we, Reg?"

"I suppose not, I just don't like my brother coming down here, getting in trouble. Mother and Father will lose it. It'll be my fault."

"Don't tell me you're scared about your brother getting hurt?"

"Of course not! Not with him running around with those mudbloods!"

Remus heard Sirius growl behind him and he reacted quickly by shooting his arm in front of any exits. James pulled his wand, as did Peter and Sirius. Remus followed. They had been practicing this jinx for a while. Remus didn't know if his mates invented the curse or if they found it while snooping around the Restricted section, but he didn't want to know either.

They had all been assigned a Slytherin. Remus had Regulus, as he was the only one who wouldn't be afraid to hurt him. Sirius was assigned Lestrange. James called dibs on Snape, which left Peter to hex Rosier. They all raised their wands as the group of Slytherins walked by. They whispered the spell as the group of wizards all gasped and tumbled down the stairs and landed in a heap. There was obvious clots in their arms and legs. James had promised Remus that there had been no deaths from the spell, but Remus worried.

"Who're the mudbloods now?!" screamed Sirius as they ran from the group.

"We just turned their blood into mud," exclaimed James and they ran into the Entrance Hall. He was beyond excited. Hence the grin that covered his face until they finally reached their dormitory. They all performed different spells to prevent the Headmaster from knowing the last spell their wand performed. Remus felt this could not completely cover their tracks, as the Dumbledore already knew of the attack on him and Peter. They would be the first suspects, no doubt.

"That was for Lily, and you two." James looked at Peter and Remus lovingly. "You are my brothers, and we will not be tolerating anymore of this blood supremacist bull." Remus smiled kindly at his mate.

"Speaking of family," said Sirius speaking up. "Mrs. P wants you guys to come to James's house for Christmas."

"I don't think I can, my mum wants me home for the holidays, Dumbledore told her about what happened. She's been having dad help her write me every day for a week." Sirius and James nodded, understandingly and then turned their heads to Remus.

"I don't think I'll make it, lads. Christmas Eve is a full moon–"

"Even more reason for you to come!" insisted James.

"I can't make you guys forfeit your Christmas for me."

"You aren't making us, why do think Sirius wrote Mum a letter begging to invite you and Pete to Christmas?" James smiled at his best friend, "We know what Christmas is."

"You–you know?"

"Yes, of course, we have the next year of full moons marked out on our calendars, Moony."

Sirius was still looking into Remus's eyes with plead. "Well, alright, I'll write my dad to ask. But I'm not making any promises."


	5. Chapter Five: The Holiday

**A/N: There is some graphic stuff in this chapter. It begins _and_ ends with Bold asterisks. ** like so. This story is rated M for a reason, but just so some of you younger readers know. The scene is very graphic, and if you don't want to read it, look for the asterisks. (*)**

* * *

A couple days after sending an owl to his father, Remus got his father's response. A simple yes that was obviously written as an afterthought before he left the house one morning. No signature or anything, just 'yes,' that was written on parchment that looked like it was torn off a news article. Remus told the Marauders of his dad's response immediately, but not of the disappointment he felt when his dad hadn't asked him to try to come home for the holidays.

The Marauders were thrilled, of course. Though Wormtail wouldn't be making it to Christmas dinner, the rest would. The blokes had already started fantasizing about what James's mother would make for dinner, much to Peter's annoyance. Peter was sulking about not being able to go to the Potters' Christmas party. He had been wanting to go, so he asked his mum, whose answer was almost exactly like Remus's father response, only opposite. Morning post came on the Tuesday before the holidays and Peter recognized his family's owl right away.

"Maybe Mum has decided!" Peter caught the owl in his hands and ripped the letter off its leg. It was a torn piece of paper with two simple letters written on it. N─O. Peter had sighed heavily and hadn't stopped sulking since.

"C'mon Pete! It'll be fine, we'll be back after holiday and everything will be back to normal. Your mum will let you come to our house for the summer, won't she? After you go home and show her you're gonna be alright?"

"Maybe, but she's still upset that she couldn't come see me after everything happened." Remus and James nodded knowingly. They were now standing in the middle of the Hogsmeade station, waiting to get on board.

"Can you remember the curse yet, Pete?"

Peter shook his head solemnly. "It started with an S. But I just can't remember the rest." Remus and James nodded once more as Sirius waved over his shoulder, signaling the Marauders to follow him. They all picked up their trunks and followed.

Soon, they were settling into a compartment. A brunette appeared on the outside of the door and opened it. She sat down beside Sirius, too close for Remus's comfort.

"Oh. Hi─er… Marissa."

"It's Meghan, but that's okay. How are you?"

"Oh, fine. Going home for the holidays, you know." Sirius scooted ever so closer to James as to get away from the girl who had been following him around since the first Hogsmeade trip.

"You know… I noticed you didn't go on a date the first Hogsmeade trip."

"It was cancelled due to my best friend being attacked, you know. You cancel dates for things like that."

Remus thought he saw a bitter scowl on Meghan's face, but it was gone just as quickly as it came. Her eyes flicked to Peter, who she smiled at, it was an unpleasant smile but a smile nonetheless. And then she was gone.

"She frightens me. Very much so." Sirius looked at his mates who were all trying to bite back laughter. He looked to Remus helplessly and pouted. Remus shrugged in response and grinned.

"I think she's quite─nice," said James who had to pause to laugh. "Maybe you should give her a try, if anything she should be a nice shag." An expression of horror crossed Remus's and Sirius's faces, the other boys were oblivious, as they were laughing so hard, they had doubled over.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you, Wormtail. Your eyes might pop out of your head." The laughter had stopped and Peter stared Sirius down for a moment, before all the boys broke into laughter again and they joked for the rest of the train ride home.

At the King's Cross station, Remus, James, and Sirius made their way towards Mr. and Mrs. Potter. While Peter made his way toward his dad whom smiled lovingly at him and then looked him over to make sure he was okay. Remus smiled longingly at this, as his father hadn't shown him real concern in a long time.

"Remus, my dear, how good to see you. You'll be sleeping in Sirius's room with him. James's bedroom is right across the hall, but with his snores, I wouldn't dare make anyone share a room with him." James flushed as if Remus wouldn't know about his snores, but then he noticed James was looking past his mother. Lily Evans had just waved at him.

"Mum, I'll be right back." James ran after the redhead, catching up with her swiftly. They seemed to have a quick conversation which ended in Lily nodding enthusiastically and James jogging back to his parents. "I'm having a friend over for Christmas, not just Remus."

Sirius and Remus exchanged looks before dragging James aside.

"Do you remember what Christmas is?"

"Prongs, Evans can't come for Christmas. You know how weak Remus will be?"

"Relax, Padfoot, she'll be coming to the Christmas party that night. Practically my entire family will be there, Remus can retire early after saying hello."

"Prongs, I love you and I'll do anything to help you impress Lily, I just don't know if this is a good idea. I probably won't be well enough to come to the party that night at all. This is why I should have gone home, I would have been able to lock myself up."

"And hurt yourself? Not so quick, Moony."

"Boys?" Euphemia called to the Marauders, "Can we _please_ head home? I need to arrange with the house-elf the new numbers for Christmas. I've added two friends today, plus James's date." Fleamont Potter rolled his eyes at his wife and escorted her to the car. The boys followed closely behind. Still discussing, in whispers, what they would do about Remus's 'furry little problem.'

* * *

Remus and Sirius had enjoyed sharing a room, Remus wasn't starting to feel bad until a few days before Christmas Eve. They had a lot of alone time as they stayed up the latest in the household. Usually they were snogging, sometimes, lying in bed with their finger interlocked.

One fateful night, everyone else had retired by eight o'clock in the evening. Remus and Sirius made their way up to their room, in the hall, they could hear James's loud snores through his bedroom door.

 ****** Just then, Sirius pinned Remus to the wall outside their bedroom and began snogging him. Remus loved snogging Sirius, but something about this was different. There was more want and need in this kiss. Somehow, Remus found his way to Sirius's bed where he fell down and Sirius climbed on top of him. Their kiss hardly broke as they fell down, their bodies entangled. Sirius had pulled Remus's jumper off and Remus had started undoing the belt on Sirius's jeans. They both smiled at each other. This was it. They had never gotten so physically close, for their entire relationship was at school. But now, as Sirius crossed the room to shut and lock the door, Remus couldn't see anything other than losing his virginity to Sirius Black happening that night.

Sirius climbed back onto the bed and straddled Remus's bare stomach as he slipped his shirt over his head. Remus smiled and reached his hands out to stroke Sirius's bare chest. Running his fingers over his nipples slightly, he felt Sirius shudder a bit. Remus had finally gotten Sirius belt undone and threw it out of the way. He started working on the button of his jeans. Sirius stood and shimmied out of his jeans, leaving Remus overdressed. Remus followed Sirius's lead and took his jeans off. They were both left in just their boxers. Remus was suddenly very glad that he had made Sirius go shopping with him last summer and buy Muggle clothing, so he didn't have to strip Sirius of wizarding robes.

Sirius laid beside Remus, his hand slowly traveling further down his chest and abs. Sirius grasped Remus's slight erection through his boxers, which made him gasp audibly.

"Shh..." soothed Sirius, which made Remus wonder if he had done this before. Remus had never had anyone touch him there before, other than himself. Sirius gently squeezed Remus's package through his boxers, making Remus's back arch, pushing his manhood into his lover's hand. Suddenly, Remus's boxers were missing, being thrown out of the bed and Sirius was kneeling in between his legs. Looking at Remus's now fully hard dick, Sirius leaned closer until his mouth met the tip of it. Remus knew when Sirius's mouth had touched his arousal that it was going to be a long night. Sirius was taking his precious time, on purpose, to ease Remus's cock into his mouth. His tongue exploring every piece of skin as he inched more and more onto Remus's package.

Sirius knew exactly what would drive Remus crazy, how? Remus may never find out, but at that moment he couldn't have cared less. He just wanted to have Sirius's mouth on him until he got his release. He would then pay Sirius back the favor.

"Be quiet, Moony." Sirius had pulled his mouth off his boyfriend's cock and spoke in a low, almost demanding voice. As Sirius's face made Remus's cock disappear once more, Remus bit down on his bottom lip, hard. He thought maybe he tasted blood. Sirius made eye contact, not moving his mouth up or down Remus's dick any. But his tongue was frantically licking every untouched piece of skin there was, Remus could feel it, if not see it.

"Sirius…" Remus could not hold it much longer, he was getting close. Though Sirius had not done much, the teasing had escalated his arousal ten times in the last few minutes. Finally, Sirius quit teasing his lover and went down on him. Remus could feel his orgasm getting closer and closer as Sirius's head bobbed up and down on Remus's erection. Sirius's hands rested against Remus's thighs as he pulled off his lover's dick.

Remus groaned in frustration of being so close to an orgasm. "Now, now, Moony. We mustn't be greedy." Sirius smiled cheekily at his boyfriend and settled his, still clothed, erection against Remus's naked one. Sirius carefully rocked back and forth, grinding his dick into Remus's. Remus finally reached for Sirius and pulled him down to him, their lips met each other's hungrily and Sirius hastily kicked off his boxers. Seeing Sirius naked in this position was almost as attractive as seeing him in Muggle clothing. Remus looked his boyfriend up and down and licked his lips. Sirius smirked and moved, so he was again in between Remus's legs. Though, this time he lowered himself and Remus knew what he was going to do.

Sirius licked his lips and his tongue met Remus's virgin ass gently. Sirius sucked on his forefinger for a moment before pushing it inside of Remus. This caused an audible gasp of pain from Remus, but Sirius hummed soothingly, "It's okay. You're gonna be okay, think of something else for a minute. It'll start to feel good soon."

Remus closed his eyes tightly and thought of Sirius's naked body on top of him. The pain had almost subsided, until he felt Sirius stick another finger inside of him and Remus had to resist the urge to cry out. Finally, the fingers left his body and were replaced with a warm tongue madly darting in and out of Remus. This felt better, much more pleasurable. Actually, a lot more pleasurable. Pleasurable in general. Soon, Remus was wriggling around and had his fingers entangled in Sirius's long dark hair, pulling. His erection was full again and he was trying to hold back his release, waiting. Sirius pulled his head out from in between Remus's, now restless, legs. Remus looked down at his lover and already knew that it was time. Sirius smiled.

"Turn over, Moony, yeah?" Remus turned over with no hesitation. His head turned to the right, he looked out the window as he felt Sirius's spit on to his most intimate place and rub it in, using his finger to push it inside him. "I know it'll hurt as you stretch, but try to relax and you'll be fine sooner than later, alright?" Remus, again, wondered if Sirius had done this before, but nodded nonetheless and kept his questions to himself.

Next thing he knew, Sirius was pounding restlessly into his ass. Getting use to the feeling hadn't taken as long as Remus expected and he was now being forced to hide his face in the pillow and he practically screamed for more. At some point, he had started jerking himself off as Sirius moaned into his back. He heard it before he felt it. Sirius was getting close, very close. His thrusts became slower, but more precise to hit the prostate. Remus was screaming in pleasure each time he did, and he bit down on Remus's shoulder as he moaned out for his release. Remus had gotten close to the edge, too.

Sirius's hand gripped Remus's waist as they both came. Sirius inside of Remus, and Remus all over Sirius's bedspread and sheets. They collapsed on top of each other and fell asleep almost immediately. ******

* * *

The next morning, Remus woke feeling as sick as ever. He knew this was due to the full moon coming, more than anything else that happened. Remus slipped out of Sirius's bed, causing the boy to stir, and grabbed a t-shirt of Sirius's, which surprisingly fit him loosely. Remus made his way to the washroom and took a quick bath before making his way back to Sirius's room. He felt quite sick to his stomach. When he returned, Sirius had still not woken up, so Remus found a pair of boxers, not knowing if they were his or Sirius's he put them on.

Remus had finally gotten dressed when he heard Mr. and Mrs. Potter welcome someone inside downstairs. He walked, slowly, down the stairs and made his way into the kitchen. Unfortunately, Mrs. Potter was in it making coffee for her friends that had just shown up.

"Good morning, Remus, dear. How did you sleep?"

Remus turned a light shade of pink and replied, "Very well, what about you, Mrs. Potter?"

"The same." She smiled kindly as Remus made himself a cup of tea, careful to not walk too fast. "Are you alright, dear? You have a bit of a limp, I'm afraid, and you look very pale."

Again, Remus's face flushed and he shrugged. "Woke up a bit ill, sadly."

"Well, I hope you won't have to miss the Christmas party!" Mrs. Potter looked worriedly at Remus and then at the door that separated the kitchen and sitting room.

"Me, too, Mrs. Potter." Remus knew very well he would miss the party, but at the moment he had no excuse for it, so he kept to himself.

"Come into the living room, dear. I've invited some friends I'd like you to see." Remus looked puzzlingly at James's mother, but followed her into the living room. Remus was met with a squeal of delight and a wave of light-brown hair attacking him. He looked up in surprise and over the woman who had just attacked him, he saw his father.

"Remus! Oh, Remus. Look at how ill you look." Lyall Lupin shushed his wife before she spilled their biggest secret to a family of pure-blood wizards.

"Mum? Dad? What are you doing here?"

"Euphemia was kind enough to invite us to stay until Christmas."

Remus pulled his parents aside. "You can't be here. You know what Christmas means for me. _I_ shouldn't be here, but James saw Dad's response before I had time to throw it out." Remus lied to protect his friends' secret of being unregistered Animagi from his father who worked at the Ministry.

"Oh, Remus. I'm so happy to see you," cried his mother into his chest. He looked at his dad pleadingly. Lyall pulled Hope off of their son.

"I have to go wake the boys, I'll be back." Remus hurried up the stairs. It wasn't comfortable, but he couldn't stand hearing his mother weep any longer. He knew why. She was devastated that her son was going to miss Christmas because of the lycanthropy. Lycanthropy that she still blamed her husband for. Walking into Sirius's room, he saw his naked lover lying in bed, stretching. "Good morning, love," he whispered. "Guess who's here."

"Who?" a groggy Animagus replied from the bed.

"My parents."

Sirius sat straight up in bed. "Your parents?!" Sirius hissed in a hushed tone.

"The ones that made me, yeah."

"Why?"

"Euphemia invited them to the Christmas party, Mum won't stop sobbing."

"Because of the full moon? Or because of us?"

"The full moon, I suspect. She knows I'm gay and she has known, Sirius."

"But she just found out about us!"

"Sirius, she's upset about the full moon, just get dressed so we can go downstairs." Remus glanced at Sirius's morning erection and smiled. Standing up clumsily, he walked across the hall into James's room. He found the boy sitting up in bed, doodling on some parchment. " _What_ are you doing?"

"Nothing!" said James as he stuffed the parchment underneath his pillow. Then his eyes zeroed in on Remus. "Remus John Lupin, is that a… What-do-Muggles-call-it... Hockey?"

"A _what?_ " Remus asked, now thoroughly confused.

"Hickey! A hickey. You have one, on your neck. I can't believe I didn't notice it before now. Well, you've probably been using some kind of charm on it, right?" James rambled on about how Remus hid this incredible piece of bruised skin from him, but Remus grew fairly fearful. "─we're not at school, you can't use any spells until you turn seventeen, right? So that's why you haven't hidden it." James looked at Remus expectantly. "Who's the guy?"

Remus didn't know how to respond, so he came up with a quick lie. "It's from when Severus attacked me. I didn't want you all to know."

James nodded and got out of bed. Remus went back to Sirius's room and panicked. "He knows, he has to know. How could I be so stupid? How do I cover it up? Oh my, oh my."

"Moony, what's wrong? What's happened?"

"Prongs knows," said Remus with wide eyes, pointing at the now apparent hickey on his neck.

* * *

 **A/N: How many of you actually read the sex scene? Did you like it? It's basically the first one I've ever written.**


	6. Chapter Six: The Christmas Moon

Over the next few days, Remus was not feeling any better. Sirius had backed off as to detour James from investigating into Remus's now hidden hickey. So Remus was mostly alone, except for occasional visits from his mother, who sobbed most of the time that she was in his room. He pretended to be asleep. One day, she caught him off guard while he was reading in Sirius's bed.

"Mum?"

"Remus, love? You're awake?"

"Yeah, Mum. Come in." Remus struggled to sit upright in bed. He wasn't usually this weak _before_ full moon, but there were a lot of things weighing down on him. Remus hadn't wanted to put the effort into everyday living. His brain was giving up, as was his body. He knew this was going to be a terrible Full Moon for his friends, as he knew his brain would not try to control the wolf. He would be the wolf completely when, usually, his personalities fought back and forth. He did not control the wolf, as no werewolf had ever, but he did try. With years upon years of practice, he had come to terms with the fact that he would never be normal.

Hope Lupin took a seat next to the bed Remus was comfortably sitting in. "Darling, you look so pale. Are you sure you're alright? I've never seen you this bad. After all these years." Remus smiled faintly.

"Mum, I'm fine. I'm just worse than usual. I'll bounce back like I always do. I can handle it, mostly."

"This doesn't have anything to do with Sirius, does it?"

" _Mum,_ we don't talk about my romantic life. I told you that when you found my letters. I told you that you can't ask questions. I don't know what to say to you."

"I'm worried about my son, Remus. If he's doing something to hurt you, I have every right to ask and know." Hope sighed into her hands as she rubbed her face and eyes beneath her glasses. "Just because you're a wizard doesn't mean I'm not your mother, Rem. I still love you very much. Your father struggles with comprehending this, so it's not entirely your fault. But being a _Muggle_ does not make me any less a human-being." The word 'Muggle' was like venom being spat at Remus. He felt suddenly very guilty.

"Mum, I love you. I do. But Sirius and I need time. We think James knows."

"Because of your hickey?"

"My─ Mum!" Remus had to suppress a smile as his mother leaned forward and moved Remus's collar away from his neck.

"James has been talking about since the moment you were on bedridden. He keeps Sirius if he knows who gave it to you. Unbelievable really, the way Sirius turns tomato red when James mentions it. A surprise James hasn't caught on, really."

"Does anyone else know?" Remus knew his mother would take this question as what he really meant.

"Your father is just as clueless as James." Hope rolled her eyes dramatically and Remus reached for her hand.

"I love you, Mum."

"I know, Rem."

* * *

Remus couldn't hide his fear for very much longer, the night before Christmas Eve, Sirius came to sleep in the room with him again. In nothing but boxers, Sirius slipped under the cover with his lover.

"Mum... Mummy… Help me, Mummy… Please, help me!" Remus was squirming in his sleep. Sirius had reacted quickly and pulled the younger boy into his arms.

"Remus, love, wake up. Wake up, darling. It's just a nightmare. A bad nightmare." Sirius had begun rocking his lover in his arms. Remus began struggling, causing Sirius to hold him tighter.

"Sirius! Sirius, NO! Please, no." Remus begged, his eyes still shut tightly. "No, love. Please!"

"REMUS! Wake up! I'm right here. C'mon, love. WAKE UP!"

Remus suddenly jolted awake and sat up straight, causing Sirius to pull him back down. After realizing where he was, Remus put his head in Sirius's lap. "Sirius… I was so scared."

"I know, love. I know. Try to go back to sleep. Tomorrow is a big day. We still have to find where you're going to stay."

"I thought James was going to do that?"

"Yes, but with his parents hosting guests now. It's hard for him to slip away unnoticed."

"How are we going to slip away unnoticed?"

"We're going to say we're taking you to St. Mungo's. If they try to come, you'll have to say no. That you don't want to bother anyone. Threaten to go alone. You know."

Remus nodded his head gently, there was an ache behind his brow that was taking over most of his body. "It hurts."

"I know, darling."

"I'm not talking about the lycanthropy," Remus added, knowing they were alone.

"I know." Sirius's hands had begun to wonder and one of them squeezed Remus's buttocks.

"Not now, Sirius."

"I know."

They both smiled at each other and Remus finally fell asleep while Sirius stroked his hair. Sirius, however, had not been able to sleep so easily. He stayed awake, listening to his lover's breathing, worried about what might happen. Sirius and James had never been with Remus when he transformed outside of the Shrieking Shack. How would they keep him safe from the outside world? How would they keep the outside world safe from the wolf?

James, Sirius, and Peter had made a pledge when they were younger to not ever call the wolf Remus when it was in wolf form. That was not their friend, that was a... Creature. Preying on their friend's mind. Remus didn't know about this pact. James and Sirius worried how he would react if he found out. They worried about his self-confidence. They worried about his lack of emotions on the fact that he was a _werewolf._ Remus was a registered werewolf, the Marauders knew this would prevent him from getting many jobs in the future. He wanted to be an Auror or a Professor. Sirius thought about Remus's future and their relationship's future often. He very rarely brought it up with Remus, though.

"I'm going to take care of you," whispered Sirius causing Remus to purr and nuzzle into Sirius's lap. Sirius smiled. He didn't know how he was going to handle Full Moons in their future together. Would he call Prongs and Wormtail and would they drop everything to help Remus? Of course, right? _Right?_ Sirius shook his head and gently moved Remus to lay vertically on the bed, so he could lay down beside him.

"Good night, Moony. I love you." Sirius whispered and pulled the lycanthrope close to him shortly before falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

Christmas Eve morning was the worst. Remus couldn't keep any food down, not that he wanted to anyway. He could barely sit up straight to eat. His mum and dad had popped in his room to wish him good luck and ask where he was going to 'take care of business'.

"J-J-James and S-S-Sirius are t-taking me t-t-to St. M-Mungo's. They'll know w-w-where to go o-or wh-what t-to d-do." Remus had barely gotten the sentence out before his dad nodded and left the room.

"Remus, save you energy. I love you, okay? And you have very brave friends to help you and stick with you throughout this fiasco that happened to you. You're such an innocent little boy," Remus groaned and Hope pet his head. "I know, I know. But you're getting my Mother's Speech because I'm worried about you. What time are you leaving?" Remus held up two very pale fingers and Hope nodded. She leaned down to kiss his forehead. "I love you, dear. Be safe. Protect yourself and others."

"I l-love y-y-y-you t-too, M-mum." Hope left the room, just as Sirius was coming in.

"Hi Mrs. Lupin."

"Hello, dear. Take good care of my boy, alright?"

Sirius felt his face flush and nodded as Remus gave another groan of protest to his mother's action. Sirius put a cold and wet rag on Remus's forehead. "Maybe that will help your fever a bit. I hate seeing you this sick, love."

"W-where's─"

"Prongs? He's seeing what the safest way to get to wherever we're going is."

"W-where─"

"Are we going? It's an abandoned post office, I think. In the next town, a Muggle town, damn near a ghost town. We shouldn't have any problems."

"What-what─"

"Happens if you get hurt or hurt other people? We'll take you or whoever is injured to St. Mungo's in the morning." Sirius smiled and moved the rag off Remus's face. "We have everything prepared, Remus. You need to save your energy." Remus nodded and closed his eyes. He was soon asleep again.

When Remus woke up, his best mates were carrying him. "Good morning, sleepyhead. You missed Padfoot's excuse as to why my folks couldn't come."

"Oh?" It was all Remus could muster. His throat was so dry and his head hurt _so_ badly.

"Yeah, he goes 'Hope, why don't you explain?' and while your mum was talking, we left. Foolproof."

Remus gave a weak nod and smiled. Sirius looked down at him for a brief moment, he thought the older boy was going to kiss him, instead he turned a corner and Remus could see lights from the next town. The boys dropped his legs, so he could support as much of his body weight as he could handle. His mates still had to hold him up carefully, but as they walked Remus became weaker and weaker. The full moons had never affected him like this. He usually got ill, but not _this_ ill.

"H-how l-long─"

"Have we been walking? Around an hour," Sirius answered quickly.

"Relax, Moony. We're taking care of you. We'll be there in fifteen minutes and the sun will go down in a couple of hours," James smiled at his mate and hoisted him further up on his shoulder.

* * *

Remus laid in bed, the sun had gone down. He was standing in front of a window, waiting for the moonlight to hit him. He turned to his mates and looked at them. "I-I'm sorry..."

"Stop, Moony," they responded together.

"We're gonna be fine," Padfoot assured him.

Suddenly, Remus turned to look out the window and the moon was high in the sky. A full white orb and Remus was in terrible pain. He screamed like he'd never screamed before. He felt his spine curve and claws sprouted from his fingertips. Then he was the wolf. The wolf looked around. A dog and a stag were in the middle of this small room with him. He looked around, he was hungry. He wanted something. Flesh maybe.

Meanwhile, Padfoot and Prongs had made their way into the room as their Animagi. They saw the wolf and sat on the floor while he rested. He wasn't as active as he was usually. After about an hour, he stood quickly and charged at the door. Prongs had to use his antlers to push the wolf against the wall and Padfoot held his legs. They had now started the fight. They had hours to go and they would be using all of their energy to hold the wolf in the abandoned building.

Hours later, Prongs was pretty much out of commission. Padfoot was having to run and dodge all over the building to keep the wolf busy and not attack the stag that was lying in the corner, barely breathing. The black dog saw that the wolf was no longer tailing him and ran into the sorting room of the abandoned post office. The wolf was standing over the stag. Padfoot acted quickly and jumped on his back. The wolf immediately swiped at the dog and knocked him to the ground. Padfoot let out a yelp and fell to the floor. There was a cut along his side and he was pretty sure he heard his ankle snap. As he stood up, it was confirmed his ankle was sprained or broken, no doubt, but there wasn't time to think about that, for there was a werewolf running at him.

* * *

At six in the morning, Remus woke to find his mates laying in a puddle of their own blood. He stood and walked to them as quickly as he could. He was not well. He didn't usually wake up for a few days, so he was sure he shouldn't be out of bed. For a brief moment, he imagined what madam Pomfrey would say to him about being out of bed and he almost smiled. Before turning back to his friends, a black dog and a stag laying in the corner, almost on top of each other.

"Padfoot! Prongs!" Remus kneeled beside them and shook them both. They both woke up, and slowly stood. But once they were back in human-form, they looked worse. They both were scary pale and bleeding. Padfoot put his arm around Remus's waist and Remus almost immediately fell into him. Prongs joined Padfoot on his other side and they left the building. With a loud _crack,_ a bus stopped in front of them.

"Padfoot! That's the Knight Bus!" Prongs smiled enthusiastically, despite the pain he was experiencing. A man came out of the bus and smiled at the trio. "I'm Ernie, welcome to the Knight Bus!" Prongs told the man where they were going. They all climbed on and sat in a row of seats towards the back. "Take it away, Barn!" And with another _crack,_ the bus was speeding down the middle of the road and Muggles' cars were bouncing out of the way as if nothing was happening. "St. Mungo's, Barn!" shouted Ernie.

The bus came to an abrupt stop that flew the three sickly boys into the seats in front of them. "Hey, you! We're at St. Mungo's!" The boys stood and made their way carefully to the exit of the bus. Prongs looked around and saw the 'Closed for Construction' sign of the shop they need to go into.

"This way," he nodded to Padfoot and they carried Moony, who had fallen asleep at some point during the ride. Padfoot and Prongs melted into the window and saw the information desk. All boys, weak and injured, walked to the desk and asked where to go for werewolf bites.

"First floor," the woman from behind the desk replied quickly and then called, "Next!" The mates carried Remus to the first floor and a nurse immediately took him away. "He's a werewolf!" Sirius called.

"I know," the nursed called back.

Prongs and Padfoot were treated quickly and easily with a wave of a wand and went to find Remus. "Remus Lupin, he just came in. He's a werewolf."

"His doctor will be out soon. Sit down."

Meanwhile, Sirius conjured a Patronus and sent a message to Hope and Lyall. A doctor appeared in front of the boys and he smiled down at them. "I'll take it, you're Sirius and James. Remus would like to see you." The boys stood, but immediately Hope and Lyall Lupin appeared and ran to the boys.

"Oh, Sirius, thank you. Thank you for staying with him," Mrs. Lupin threw herself into his arms and he held her carefully. Her husband, however, smiled thankfully at the boys, but showed no other emotion. The mates let Remus's parents see him first, and when it was their turn, they slumped into the room. Remus was asleep, so they sat next to the bed quietly until he opened his eyes slowly.

"Hey Moony," Sirius whispered and Prongs smiled at the boy. "Rest, before you know it, we'll be back at school and it'll all be fine."


	7. Chapter Seven: The Talk

In the chaos of the Christmas moon, Remus and Sirius had not had the chance to talk about Prongs's discovery of the bruise Sirius had left on Remus's neck. Quite frankly, Remus was getting tired of having to wear turtlenecks everywhere he went. On packing day, however, Remus cornered Sirius in their bedroom.

"We need to talk, Siri."

"Bout what, Rem?" Remus rolled his eyes and Sirius continued, "There's nothing to talk about. Prongs saw a hickey, he assumed it was from someone at Hogwarts. That's all he needs to know."

"Oh, really? And when he tells Peter about it, or when he wants to meet this mysterious boy I've been hiding? Then what, Padfoot? You're going to show up and say 'Surprise!' are you?"

"James won't ask to meet your boyfriend and he might tell Peter, but Peter won't ask to meet your boyfriend either."

"Alright, but maybe if they _knew_ him, they would be more accepting."

"What exactly are you saying, Remus?"

"I'm saying maybe we should tell them."

Sirius threw his fist into a wall that immediately crunched under the force and Remus winced. "Are you absolutely bonkers?! They wouldn't understand. They wouldn't get it, and I can't take care of you by myself, Remus." Sirius was practically screaming by the time he was done and Remus wished he could use the Silencing Charm without being caught.

Remus gave Sirius a moment to catch his breath and calm down. They were both red in the face, Sirius was angry and Remus was embarrassed the Potter family would overhear their conversation.

When Remus finally did speak, it was quiet and Sirius could barely hear it over his heavy breathing. "I know, Padfoot, but we won't know until we try." He felt ashamed that his own boyfriend thought him to be a monster. An uncontrollable one at that. Remus knew, deep down, that Sirius was talking about the wolf. The one that he would be threatened with every full moon, but somehow, Remus pushed that thought to the back of his mind. The only thing he heard was _I can't take care of you by myself._

"No, absolutely not. We will not, cannot tell James and Peter," Sirius's reply was quick and firm. He nodded curtly and turned back to his trunk.

"Maybe just James, then."

"NO, Remus! NO! I don't know what you don't understand about that word, but that is my final answer. Finish packing, I'll be downstairs."

"But─" By the time, Remus had opened his mouth to respond, Sirius had slammed his trunk shut and strutted out of the room. "Okay, nice talk, Siri," Remus whispered the to empty room.

* * *

Downstairs, Euphemia looked at Sirius worriedly, she had heard yelling upstairs. "Everything alright, dear? We heard arguing."

Sirius grunted and forced a smile. Euphemia continued to stare at him, longing for him to confide in her. He had only lived with her and her family for a few months, but even before he came to live with the Potters he had spent so much time at their house. Euphemia stood from the sofa and followed Sirius into the kitchen.

"Sirius, darling. Was it Remus you were arguing with?"

"Mrs. Potter…" Sirius trailed off before he could finish his sentence. He took a deep breath and wrapped his arm around himself. Finally turning back to Euphemia, he asked, "Has James told you?"

"Told me what, dear?"

"About Remus and me. About our relationship."

"No, dear, James hasn't mentioned it to me at all." Euphemia's brow furrowed and she, too, hugged herself.

"Oh... Well, er, forget about it then. No reason discussing it."

"Are you and Remus, er, going steady?" Euphemia flushed a bit; she had never expected to be asking Sirius Orion Black about his relationships at school.

"We've been together since the end of last year, but we didn't want to tell anyone, especially James and Peter. Lily Evans, that girl who came to the Christmas party for James─"

"The one he missed, because he was at St. Mungo's with you and Remus?"

"Yes, Mrs. Potter. Well, she found out. And Remus's mum intercepted his mail and she found out too," Sirius paused and looked up at the woman standing before him. "And now I've told you."

Euphemia smiled. She was quite pleased Sirius had found someone to lean on, someone who would pick him up when he's down. "Sirius, I don't think James knows about this relationship, you've told me about, so you have nothing to worry about. But I do think you should go upstairs and talk to Remus. Your argument sounded very intense and no matter what happened, you both need to make it right."

Sirius nodded knowingly, "Thank you, Mrs. Potter. Please don't tell anyone."

"Sirius, dear, would I tell anyone about a relationship James secretly had?" When Sirius shook his head slowly, Euphemia continued, "Then _why_ would I tell about yours?" She smiled lovingly at this adopted son of hers and he hugged her. The last time they had hugged is when he came to her house in the middle of the night, the night he had moved in to their guest bedroom, the night his own mother burned him off the family tapestry.

Sirius smiled gratefully at James's mother and, leaving his trunk in the middle of the kitchen floor, he trotted happily upstairs. When he entered his bedroom, Remus was laying on the bed, facedown.

"Go away, James."

"Sorry if you were expecting someone else, darling. But it's just me. A pity, I know."

Remus turned over and looked up at Sirius as he crawled into the bed to lay next to him. When Sirius put an arm around his shoulder, Remus curled into a ball and put his head on Sirius's chest. "I know I'm crazy, Siri. I'm sorry I am. It's just that… I'm a werewolf, a _monster_ , Padfoot. And they accepted that. James and Peter accepted that I'm gay. They accepted so many things. Why wouldn't they accept the fact that you're gay too?"

"It's not that they wouldn't accept that I'm gay, Moony." Sirius kissed his boyfriend's head and pulled him closer. "It's that they won't accept that _we're_ gay. Together."

Remus looked up at Sirius and rolled his eyes. "You think they'll be more accepting if you came out as someone else's boyfriend and not mine?"

"No, Moony. I think they'll be more accepting if I don't come out _at all._ James is always talking about who'd be a great and easy shag. Peter is always talking about who shags who. You think they'll be okay when they find out we're shagging each other?"

"Then we won't shag." Remus chuckled at Sirius's low groan.

"But I like shagging," Sirius whined.

"How many times can we say shag in one conversation? Let's talk about another reason you won't tell your best mate that you're in love with me." Remus batted his eyelids at the older boy and smirked.

"I don't know, Rem. Give me some time. Let me think about it."

* * *

James, Sirius, and Remus had just arrived at Platform 9¾ and they were waiting for Euphemia and Fleamont to come through the barrier. The platform was almost empty, they had arrived at nine in the morning. Euphemia insisted it, because she wanted them to get a nicely placed compartment. When they appeared a few minutes later, James moved anxiously, craning his neck.

"We'll have to wait for Wormy, then," James repeated for a third time as he scanned the platform for their small best mate.

"Mate, you've said that a few times, don't worry about Peter. He'll be here. He's always here."

Sirius and Remus hadn't exactly continued talking about what needed to be talked about, but it had only been a day and a half. Remus decided he would give Sirius until the end of January. The Marauders wanted to have a party in the Gryffindor common room every night, because Remus had slept through New Year's.

"WORMTAIL!" A small, beady-eyed boy replied immediately to the nickname with a squeak and ran towards his friends. He was engulfed in a group hug. "How did Christmas Eve go? I'm sorry I couldn't be there."

"It went great, got some new scars to show off!" James smiled, pulling up his shirt to show the smaller boy.

"You're welcome, James. You now have battle scars you can show off," Remus said bitterly.

"I'm sorry, Moony. I didn't think of it like that."

"Yeah, well, you never do."

"Rem, don't you think you're being a bit harsh?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, James." Remus turned to the black-haired boy. "My parents wrote me and said they would be here at nine-thirty to see me off." Remus glanced anxiously at his watch and looked back up at the three friends surrounding him. "Though, it's ten and they're not here."

The three of them nodded solemnly. Then there was a red blur and James yelling "OUCH!"

"What'd you do that for, Evans?"

"You invited me to a Christmas Party and you weren't even there!"

"Lily, he was at St. Mungo's with me. I was terribly sick. Please blame me." Remus explained, only hiding a bit of the truth.

"Oh, well. Alright, Potter. You have this round, but you'll mess up again. And I'll tally my marks against you." Lily looked down at a diary-looking book and wrote a line in a column. James had noticed her Muggle pen and looked at it with curiosity.

"Is that a quill?"

"It's a pen," said Lily impatiently, glancing over her shoulder at her friends.

"It doesn't need ink to write?"

"The ink is _inside,_ Potter. Have Remus explain it to you." With that, Lily flipped her hair over her shoulder and strolled over to Marlene.

"With all the Muggle shops I take you all to, you don't know what a pen is. It seems I have failed."

"Failed? Failed in what, Moony?" Sirius had moved close to Remus, romantically close and Remus hoped James and Peter didn;t notice the redness rushing into his cheeks.

"Failed in teaching you Muggle things."

"I wear these jean things. That's not failure." Sirius gestured to his denim pants that looked almost too tight on him now.

"Yes, you do wear jeans occasionally, even at Hogwarts sometimes." Remus smiled proudly at the shorter boy and Sirius smirked before winking in Remus's direction.

"So explain this pen thing to me again?" James chimed in on Remus and Sirius's conversation.

"It's like a quill, but instead of having to dip the tip into ink, it already has ink inside."

Peter laughed at James' shocked expression, and soon Sirius joined in. He was probably the more informed than his best mate since he and Remus had spent most of the summer together.

Still laughing, the four friends made their way to the train. The whistle had blown meaning it was ten-thirty. They were so engrossed in what they were talking about, they didn't noticed the greasy-haired boy watching them with disgusted eyes.


End file.
